A smile widened on Rugal's face, as he listened to the Elven woman's statement regarding learning, for it seemed she shared his own views on it. And so he went on to voice it:

- "I appreciate your preference for conducting the studies by oneself, while not neglecting the usefulness of written knowledge. See, I am applying such practice to my magical studies and so far, I am most satisfied with the fruit of my efforts. By applying the learned knowledge to my own experiments, I eventually discover the way of casting I find suiting me the most and as such, I find myself able to put it to the most effective use. Now I do realise that adventuring is much so distinct from casting, but I dare say that this way of learning can be effectively applied to many, if not all of the schools."

Rugal paused to allow Kit to negotiate a fair price for the smithy's services, before she turned to him and offered to return the favour. He was more than happy to agree, as he once again gestured the woman to follow him to the tavern he grew to like over that little time he had spent in the City so far. Having taken a few turns between the fairly tidy alleyways the two eventually found themselves in the unremarkable doorways leading to the tavern. The place was nothing particularly fancy or spacious, but it surely was well-kempt and nice on the senses.

- "If you insist on buying me a drink, I will have a cup of herbal tea" - the man said, waiting for the woman to place an order, before finding a table they could sit by. As they did, he went on to ask a few questions, such as ones regarding the dangers of adventuring she considers most severe or whether she feels welcome in whichever settlements she chooses to visit.

Kit examined the tavern with small interest, it was much cleaner, and much more honest looking than what she found herself used to nowadays. She raised a questioning brow at the humans idea of a drink, but let it slide. Alcohol was not everyone's cup of tea after all. She ordered for him and a small glass of hard native liquor for herself. She settled her tab immediately and carried both drinks to a table of his choosing. Once sat his line of enquiry turned to that of the risks of travelling, and to those she found most severe.

"To be perfectly honest dangers you find along the way are constant and varied. For example, and not in any demeaning fashion, as a human there are many more risks for you than someone like I. Hunger, thirst, cold and the like are the main killers while out in the wild. Where in cities you'll find your worst problems being thieves, bandits and dependant on what you do, rivals or city guards." She stopped briefly to take a sip from her glass, the liquor was strong and burned with a comforting intensity as it ran down her throat. Her demeanour softened slightly as she addressed his second line of intrigue. 
"You will not always necessarily feel welcome wherever you go, there will be times when you are not wanted nor needed. But saying that, I have always felt at peace in all manners of situations and crowds. I do not find any trouble in acclimatising to the environment around me. Manners are essential when making a good first impression, even if it does not last for long." She advised warmly, leaving out the fact that her ability to belong when she chose was not so much pure charisma than the fact that she was a shape-shifter. A detail she almost always left unspoken, unless she needed to change in front of the person in question. 

Rugal went on to contemplate the woman's words. At places, her description of the life of an adventurer was so much different from his own ideas on the subject. After all, who does not need a capable adventurer gracing them with his presence? As for the dangers in the wilds, while he was all aware of importance on keeping self sated, hydrated and warm, he would never had figured that these, rather than the various predators, are the main dangers in the wilds. He slowly sipped his tea, while putting thought into Kit's advice.

- "That will sure be of great help to me, Kit. You see, my idea of adventuring was much different from what you had just described. Now that I do know what to look out for, I shall spare myself much of the trouble early on. Thank you."

The young man continued to sip his tea and to continue thinking of the woman's words, even briefly imagining a hypothetical scenario which would require him to prepare for such a demanding journey. He realised that he had one more question to ask, when he found himself with no idea where to go…

- "And one more question, maybe, if I may ask" - Rugal went on to speak - "Do you happen to be employing a particular method for your search for adventures? I am asking, for I find it difficult to believe that blind luck is that much of a factor."

She smiled at this "You'll find that it's not so much to do with luck as to do with being forthcoming. The longer you travel you will come to understand that opportunities will come to you, and eventually this life will make its way into your soul. Then, the real challenge is how to stop." Her eyes hazed out into the distance over his shoulder, not looking at anything in the room. Flashes of memories passed one after another through the front of her mind and she played with the glass in her hand absently. 

Once her mind returned to the room she fixed him with a sly smile "But that is not what you are really asking, is it now?" 
She let him mull over her words a little longer. She knew what he really wanted, a place to begin. She was once young and felt the call of the road. She felt the trickster in her rising to the surface- she had half a mind to give him what he wanted. 
She then studied his face with the painful attention to detail that all good shape-shifters did. Each discolouration, each minuscule blemish and each micro-expression all stored automatically to memory. She did not even do it on purpose anymore, she just could not see the faces around her without looking through the eyes of her own kind. 
From the moment she had offered to buy him a drink she had been testing his character, and she found herself perplexed. The youth that she had seen in this area of the world were versed heavily in theory and sheltered practice. She was not overly convinced that this Rugal was ready for the big bad world. He had no idea that the act of survival was going to be only the beginning of his problems…

Rugal tried his best not to show that he had been taken quite aback, seeing how Kit spoke to him as if she wanted him not to take his desired path. However, he chose not to comment on this, instead continuing to listen. It was only when she asked him whether he would like to learn about departing from such an exciting path, the young apprentice finally voiced his thoughts:

- "No, it is definitely not. Most certainly not until I will get my first chance to test my skill and character in face of challenges which are to await me."

The woman's words had whipped out quite a brainstorm in a young man. While he was aware that the knowledge he had gained up until this point was barely enough to pull him through, he wondered whether he could actually manage to prepare himself for the dangers she had described. It did not sound like much, but as it was in the case of many other dangers he faced, they could turn much more severe than he could imagine. Was that actually the case? There was only one way he could think of that would help him find out…

- "Well, why will you not try me? Take me along and see how I fare?" - he had asked his question, the feeling of determination dominating that of uncertainty.

She did not understand the defensive response from the young man, she had not been dissuading him in the slightest. But his determined statement did make her chuckle more than she probably should have.
"I could take you along on a venture, but as to seeing how you fair…" She trailed off with a careless sigh. She finished her drink in one last draught before she turned it upside-down on the table. "Suffice to say you will be responsible for whatever happens to you?" It was more of a statement than an actual question, she knew he was smart enough to understand the concept of death at least. Plus she thought to herself, if he gets in my way I could always just… Her thoughts returned as her glass in-front of her shattered. It smashed so fine it was nought but powder, but she had no idea where the conjuring stemmed from. She knew it was not a threat however. Threats always entailed real physical harm. Flippantly she swept the sand from the table to the floor, but rolled a few fine granules between her fingertips. 

"I can't say for sure that I know of any trouble around here as of yet, but seeing as you've been here a little longer than I, have you heard any rumours?" Sitting in such a cosy little tavern had made her restless, and maybe the human did have something in mind, considering his eagerness to hit the road. If not she could always set up in a snug in a less favourable tavern and read her tarot. She found that reading people's lives opened many intriguing lines of conversation. On occasion, a venture, if none were to be found anywhere else. 

The woman's chuckle made Rugal rethink what he said earlier. Ever since he left his family home, he was doing his best to remain disciplined and level-headed, but at his young age, at his early stage of training, he could only do so much in that direction. There were still many occasions where he would let his excitement take over, and this seemed to be the one of them. Having briefly pursed his lips, the aspiring apprentice let out a lengthy, quiet exhale.

Then Kit went on to ask whether he acknowledged that he will hold full responsibility for his state by the end of their trek. With a tone much more composed than before, Rugal went on to answer:

- "I am most aware of that, and I was so well before I chose to depart from home…" - it sounded like he was going to say something else, had he not been distracted by a glass stood on their table, which had imploded into a pile of fine powder. Could Kit have done that, for whatever reason? Or was that someone else in the tavern, intending to direct attention of the two for some reason? Rugal idly turned around, scanning the few individuals that were present for any traces of recently released mana or any other signs of unusual activity. Seeing that Kit herself did not seem bothered much, the young man did not let the situaton bother him either. He turned back towards her, as she went on to ask whether he heard any rumors which could get them started.

- "I am worried that I had failed to hold onto anything of interest. Excluding maybe the supposed emergence of eggs composed of precious stones and metals worldwide. But I suppose you expected to hear something about more localised occurences?" - Rugal asked, before proceeding to finish his tea.